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“The troops of the Central and Western military districts will be deployed on the Ukrainian‑Russian border on the north and east sides. The Central District troops, for example, can get deployed on the border with the Luhansk region.

What happens next depends on the political situation,” said Vyacheslav Tseluyko (a Russian security expert).

According to him, the Crimea could become an operational zone for Russian Airborne troops and forces of the Southern Military District. In addition to the regular army, special forces may be deployed in this region.

Meanwhile, due to the general mobilization in Ukraine the country’s military manpower will increase within a week. According to Vyacheslav Tseluyko, the numbers of the military equipment of all the armed forces, most of which have been kept in storage, will also increase.

“In the next few days the numbers of the Ukrainian army will increase by several times. The buildup and deployment of additional units continue. Military equipment is being released from the storage bases. For example, the number of tanks can grow 3-4 times, twofold if you count only those in good repair and operational,” said the source.

“The Ukrainian army is located mainly in the western and central parts of the country, the manpower comes predominantly from these regions, that are more loyal to Kiev than the eastern regions. In the event of hostilities, they will not switch sides, as some units in the Crimea did,” said Vyacheslav Tseluyko.

Igor Korotchenko, the Editor-in-Chief of National Defense magazine, stressed that the Ukrainian army is ineffective and will not put up any resistance to the Russian troops. According to the expert, the fighting may begin only under pressure from the new government.

“We have de facto established our presence in the Crimea. As for the south-eastern Ukraine, if Kiev sends troops to suppress the local authorities and citizens of eastern Ukraine, if mopping-up operations start, the Russian military will conduct a humanitarian peacekeeping operation,” believes Igor Korotchenko.

However theoretically, the Ukrainian army could “win back” the Crimea, believes Tseluyko.

“The northern part of the Crimea, the steppes, could be easily occupied by the Ukrainian army. Over there the terrain allows for deployment of light motorized units. Russia has a big army, but it won’t be able to deploy a lot in the Crimea, “ says Vyacheslav Tseluyko.

The expert did not rule out moving troops from the western and central parts of Ukraine to the peninsula, with the support of airborne units and air force.

We must not forget that the Ukrainian Soviet army has Soviet “Smerch” multiple rocket launchers, able to cover an area of ​​several hectares at a distance of up to 120 km. However, pro-Russian sentiment among the Crimean population greatly complicates the situation in case of hostilities against Russia, he said.

When Washington, under the guise of protecting its national interests, is bombing Iraq and Libya, threatening Syria with its “red lines”, throwing around its unilateral sanctions right and left, eavesdropping on everything and everyone (even its strategic allies), openly stating that it’s getting ready for a “global strike”, providing financial and military support to those whom many consider terrorists, provoking military coups and armed rebellions, supporting dictators (most importantly, they have to be “our sons of bitches”) — all this is done ostensibly for the sake of “democracy.” But once Moscow attempted to put (so far only verbal) pressure on those who do not try to conceal their intention to kill everybody who simply speaks Russian, they immediately threaten Russia with boycotts and other sanctions. Is it not the outright double standards?

Or maybe Russia doesn’t need that kind of G8? After all China is about to become the number one economy in the world without that “club”. In addition, every year experts argue with more and more confidence, that the greatness of G8 is а thing of the past, and it’s being replaced by the much more relevant G20, where, by the way, the West does not call the shots. That is, not being able to unceremoniously dictate the rules of the game. It is possible that without Russia the G8 will be relegated to the dustbin of history even sooner.